NASA’s Starliner Mission Delay: Boeing’s Astronauts Stuck in Space Due to Technical Issues

Last June 5, two NASA astronauts left for the International Space Station (ISS) for a mission that should have lasted a little more than a week: although almost 80 days have passed over, they have not yet returned to Earth.

Starliner, the Boeing capsule that carried them outside the Earth’s atmosphere, had technical problems, and for more than two months NASA has been wondering if it is safe enough to bring back its two astronauts. After many delays and hesitations, in a meeting in the program by Saturday 24 August space agency managers must agree on a recovery plan: one of the most difficult decisions regarding the safety of astronaut transport systems since the era of the Shuttles.

The launch of Starliner in early June went according to plan, but problems with the propulsion systems appeared before the capsule reached the ISS. Five of the 28 thrusters used to steer the capsule and change its course stop workingrequires some additional operations to make docking with the Station possible at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.

For Starliner it was the first flight with astronauts on board – Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams – after years of testing and delivery delays Boeing and NASA have spent about $6.7 billion so far. The test, which is still formally ongoing, was fundamental to demonstrate the reliability and safety of Starliner as part of NASA’s program to provide private trips to the ISS, as has been done before and successfully by SpaceX , Elon Musk’s space company.

After Wilmore and Williams arrived on the ISS, technicians had tried to understand the reasons for the malfunction of the thrusters. To do this, they had done some tests here on Earth, identifying a possible problem in the Teflon part (the plastic material that makes non-stick pans) of the valves. thruster, which had deformed slightly when the propellant passed, preventing the propellant itself from flowing into the right places. Subsequent analyses, however, cast doubt on these assessments: once deformed, Teflon hardly recovers its original shape, but experiments conducted in orbit have overcome it. presented that the throttles now seem to be working normally. It is suspected that something else is temporarily blocking the valves and that the problem could reappear during the Starliner re-entry stages, with potentially catastrophic consequences if an engine shut down explode.

Confusion over the causes of the thrusters’ severe malfunction led to a long conflict between Boeing and NASA technicians, which continues to this day and led to Williams’ long stay and Wilmore on the ISS. The Station has more than enough resources to accommodate the two additional guests, but if they were to stay longer it could affect other missions, as space on the ISS is still limited.

In addition, some effects on in-orbit operations have already occurred. In the weeks following the launch of the Starliner, NASA delayed the launch of the next astronaut mission to the ISS operated by SpaceX for at least a month. The departure will not happen by September 24but times are still tight: SpaceX must know soon whether it will have to send four astronauts as originally planned or just two, to welcome Williams and Wilmore on their return journey . Knowing this in advance is necessary since the time it takes to configure a Crew Dragon transport capsule based on the number of occupants. So NASA will have to decide what to do within a few days and it won’t be an easy choice.

If the decision is not made that Williams and Wilmore will return with Starliner, the two astronauts will have to stay on the ISS until next February, when they can make the return trip with the Crew Dragon capsule. In this situation Williams and Wilmore would therefore live aboard the Station for eight months, a significant extension for a mission that was supposed to last eight days. Before Crew Dragon arrives at the end of September, Starliner will still have to leave the ISS to free up docking space for the SpaceX capsule. So Starliner would have to be configured to automatically return to Earth, without a crew on board, another time-consuming operation that requires a decision from NASA as soon as possible.

The last option should be up to Kenneth Bowersoxchief of the space agency’s flight operations division. Bowersox, a former astronaut, was on the International Space Station in 2003 when the The Space Shuttle Columbia disasterwhich disintegrated when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to the death of all seven on board, as memory Stephen Clarks for it Ars Technica. At the time, the damage caused by debris to the Shuttle’s heat shield during launch was underestimated, an underestimation that had a profound impact on the US space program and safety standards. which NASA has since taken over.

Bowersox will make decisions based on information and advice provided by working groups that review spaceflight, safety and space missions and will also consult with astronaut representatives. If conflicting views emerge, the final decision could be left to NASA administrator Bill Nelson (himself a former astronaut). Nelson recently tried it himself in his own way peace of mind on the decision-making process: «I am confident, especially since the final decision is up to me».

The people who, together with Bowersox, must decide what to do all of them work at NASA during the Columbia disaster, which will affect, according to several experts, the choices of the coming days. Starliner managers, who are in charge of Boeing and have strong interests in the decision, have shown that they are slightly more willing to take risks, reiterating however that the safety of the astronauts is a priority and that the last resort of those responsible. for NASA.

The current Starliner mission director for Boeing, LeRoy Cain, he was a flight director when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry into the atmosphere. He was working at the control center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center at the time and witnessed the crash in real time, receiving updates on the Shuttle’s sensors that were detecting various structural failures in the left wing, which would have caused destruction. on the spaceship at the end. Even before Starliner was launched, when other technical problems had appeared, Cain had promised not to launch the capsule until it was ready.

Just because of the involvement of people like Bowersox and Cain, several parallels have been made between Columbia and Starliner in recent weeks, even though the two spacecraft have very different characteristics and histories. In 2003, the damage suffered by Columbia during launch was not entirely clear and, given the knowledge of the time, it appeared that the spacecraft had all the requirements for a re-entry. ; Additionally, there were few options or opportunities to explore recovery plans for astronauts through other means. The problems with Starliner, however, are widely known and are in addition to those that emerged during the long development phase, which took many more years than expected.

Starliner launches atop an Atlas V rocket on June 5, 2024 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, US (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

The increased frequency of space launches by astronauts necessary for crew rotation on the ISS has led to a sense of normal space activity, to the point that it is almost taken for granted that there are people who transcends space activity as usual. atmosphere and survive for a few months in orbit. In reality, reaching orbit is still one of the most dangerous activities you can do: astronauts are aware of this and know that risks are part of their job and that space agencies are doing everything possible for them to reduce them.

This explains the extreme measures being taken and the frequent cancellations of space concerts by crews, but also the caution that NASA is keeping on Starliner, despite the delay and the expectation that they manage to revise some plans not only in the short term, but also in the long term. .

If Starliner were to return to Earth without a crew, a new test flight might be needed to test the space capsule for human missions. The times would be extended further and Boeing may not be able to guarantee the six launches expected by the contract by 2030, the year in which the ISS will cease to be used. For Boeing it would also be an additional damage to its image, after those related to the safety problems that have surfaced with some of its aircraft in recent years and that have led to general doubts about the reliability of the company in terms of safety.

Regardless of NASA’s choice on Saturday, Boeing lost its Space Race with SpaceX. After the Shuttles retired in 2011, in 2014 NASA gave the two companies the task of transporting crews into orbit, with funding of 2.6 billion dollars for SpaceX and 4.2 billion dollars for Boeing. Although the latter has not yet completed a test flight, SpaceX has sent 11 crews to the ISS in four years and is preparing for the twelfth mission.